Spiritual and Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World (Routledge Inform Series on Minority Religions and Spiritual Movements)

Description

Exploring religious and spiritual intentional communities active in the world today, Spiritual and Visionary Communities provides a balanced introduction to a diverse range of communities worldwide. Breaking new ground with its focus on communities which have had little previous academic or public attention, the authors explore a part of contemporary society which is rarely understood. Communities studied include: Israeli kibbutzim, Mandarom, the Twelve Tribes, 'The Farm' and the Camphill movement. Written from a range of perspectives, this collection includes contributions from members of the groups themselves, former members, and academic observers, and as such will offer a unique and invaluable discussion of religious and spiritual communities in the U.S., Europe, and beyond.

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About Author

Timothy Miller has thirty years' experience in the study of new religious movements, with a special focus on communal groups.

Contents

Contents: Introduction: persistence over millennia: the perennial presence of intentional communities, Timothy Miller; Damanhur: sustaining changes in an intentional community, Etta M. Madden; Mandarom and the limitations on liberte in the laicite, Susan J. Palmer; Henpecked to heaven? My life in a Brahma Kumaris retreat center, Neville Hodgkinson; Realising the guru's intention: hungry humans and awkward animals in a new Kadampa tradition community, Carol McQuire; Tamera, a model for the future, Leila Dregger; Spirituality in the Camphill villages, Jan Martin Bang; The farm, Albert Bates; A tradition of innovation and the innovation of tradition: the cultural developments of the 12 Tribes community, Torang Asadi; The Family International: the evolution of a communal society, Clare Borowik; How many arks does it take?, Chris Coates; Religious communes in America: an overview, Timothy Miller; The intersection of White-Racist communes and the American legal system, H.C. Lazebnik; Communes and kibbutzim: towards a comparison, Henry Near; Select bibliography; Index.